A. The owners owning a majority in interest of the working interest in a well or the Corporation Commission for cause upon proper application by any working interest owner and notice to all working interest owners in a well may designate a person other than the operator, which person is defined for purposes of this section to include, but not be limited to, a bank or a trust company, to perform the royalty accounting and remittance functions assigned to the operator pursuant to the Production Revenue Standards Act, upon consent to and assumption by that person of:

1. Any costs thereby incurred; and

2. An obligation to furnish to the operator such information necessary to the operator for the discharge of its duties.

B. Any person designated pursuant to this section shall assume all rights and duties of and shall be held to the same standards of care as the operator as set forth in this section and Sections 4, 6, 7 and 13 and subsections A and G of Section 8 and subsections C and E of Section 10 of this act. Any person designated pursuant to this section who is not a working interest owner in the well, a first purchaser of production from the well or a bank or trust company shall be bonded or post other surety in an amount equal to Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00). Except as provided by private agreement or Corporation Commission order derived from other statutory authority, such person shall not thereby assume other rights or duties of the operator.

Added by Laws 1992, c. 190, § 5, eff. July 1, 1993.